Symptoms of depression in adolescents with epilepsy

Objective: To identify factors related to symptoms of depression in a sampl e of adolescents with epilepsy. Method: Cross-sectional data were collected on 115 adolescents aged 12 to 16 years who had epilepsy. Demographic (age, gender), seizure (severity, age of onset), family (stress, resources, rela tionships), mother (perceptions of stigma, depression), and child (attitude toward epilepsy, satisfaction with family relationships, coping, perceptio ns of control) variables were assessed by questionnaire and standardized sc ales. Depression was measured by the Children's Depression Inventory and th e Anxiety/Depression subscale of the Youth Self-Report. Data were analyzed by using multiple regression with depression as the dependent variable. Res ults: In this sample, 23% of subjects had symptoms of depression. Significa nt predictors of depression as measured by the Children's Depression Invent ory (R-2 = 0.53) were youth's attitude toward epilepsy, youth satisfaction with family relationships, and unknown locus of control or external locus o f control for socially powerful others. Conclusions: Adolescents' attitudes , attributions, and satisfaction with family relationships are related to d epression and should be assessed in the clinical setting. The relationship between locus of control and depression fits the learned helplessness model of depression and suggests the need for interventions to promote an intern al locus of control in adolescents with epilepsy.